Suraiya is the owner of a small grocery store. There is a large national grocery store within five kilometres of Suraiya's store.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2016). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [2] 5 (a) (i) One mark for each of two reasons identified
2. Cheaper prices
3. Wider range of goods
4. Additional services/facilities or examples (1)
5. Self-service/quicker shopping experience
6. Car parking
7. Can offer loyalty reward schemes
8. Will accept credit/debit cards
9. Convenience/near to home
10. Branded goods
11. Special offers/discounts
12. One stop shopping
13. Accept any other relevant point
14. [4] (ii) Any 2 x 2 explained reasons or 4 × 1 marks
15. The service is friendly (1) with the customer feeling welcomed into the store (1)
16. Customers know Suraiya (1) and trust her (1) listen to her advice/recommendations (1)
17. Creates customer loyalty (1) they will continue to shop there (1)
18. Suraiya will know her customer's wants (1) and will stock accordingly (1)
19. Suraiya will listen to customer complaints (1) in order to improve her business (1)
20. It will increase sales (1) helps her business to survive (1)
21. Accept any other relevant point
22. [2] (b) (i) Any two points
23. Bar coding is a means of computerised recognition of the product (1) it aids accurate pricing at the till (1) and aids stock control (1)
24. It operates by placing a unique code of bars/lines/digits on the product (1) which are scanned into the computer (1) using a bar-code reader (1) providing information about the product (1) e.g. price (1)
25. Provides market research information (1) showing which products are more popular (1)
26. Accept any other relevant point
27. [2] (ii) Any two points
28. EPOS stands for electronic point of sale (1) it is a computerised system (1) and uses electronic tills (1) enabling bar-codes to be passed through a laser beam (1) to provide accurate pricing (1)
29. It also provides management with information on what is selling (1) customer shopping habits (1) aiding stock control (1) and provides customer with an bill/receipt (1)
30. Accept any other relevant point
31. [2] (c) (i) Any two points
32. Informal credit will enable Suraiya's customers to buy/have food/goods (1) when they temporarily have no money (1) it postpones/delays payment (1) no interest to be paid (1)
33. The customers will remain loyal to Suraiya (1) and repay her when they receive money (1)
34. Accept any other relevant point
35. [2] (ii) Any two points
36. Suraiya has to trust her customers (1) and there is the danger that it could lead to bad debts (1) or she will not get repaid (1) make a loss on the sale (1)
37. If too many customers owe her money, Suraiya may not have the cash to pay her bills (1) or to buy more stock (1) resulting in going out of business/bankruptcy (1)
38. Accept any other relevant point
39. [6] (d) Level 2 (4-6 marks) Has discussed whether or not Suraiya should accept debit card payments and has given a reasoned opinion (If a candidate has presented a one-sided argument, award 4 marks max.)
40. Level 1 (1-3 marks) Has commented on the use of debit cards with/without an opinion
41. Debit cards are issued by banks and are used by customers of banks. They are used to pay for goods by the cash being taken out of the customer's account and credited to Suraiya's account.
42. Advantages to Suraiya include:
43. Handling less cash, which reduces security risk
44. Increasing sales due to customers not needing cash
45. Disadvantages to Suraiya include:
46. There may be a delay in crediting the money to Suraiya's bank account
47. Suraiya will have to pay a small commission to the bank
48. In order to protect against fraud Suraiya will have to be linked by phone or computer to the bank system, this may be costly.
49. The advantages of extra business and security have to be balanced against the extra cost involved
50. Accept any other relevant point